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Brits are hoarding £13 billion worth of unused phones

James Pearce
January 28, 2016

Research from SellMyMobile.com found 45-55 year olds are most likely to cling on to devices, with a quarter stocking four or more phones 

More than £13 billion worth of unused mobile phones are sat in British homes, according to figures from SellMyMobile.com.

The average Brit has at least two unused devices sat in their, with 9.9 per cent holding on to five or more handsets. With almost 51 million Brits aged over 18, and the average second hand device worth £126, that means Brits are sat on £13.27 billion worth of phones.

Belfast is the biggest home of mobile hoarders, according to the research, followed by Cardiff and Newcastle. Norwich is the most clutter-free, with Southampton and Plymouth coming in second and third respectively.

SellMyMobile.com tasked OnePoll to find out about the UK’s hoarding habits and found Brits aged 45-55 year old are the biggest hoarders, with a quarter admitting they own four or more devices.

SellMyMobile.com founder Keir McConomy said: “The value of mobile cash in the attic is increasing as people continue to trade-up to get the latest smartphones. While not all old devices will be the latest iPhone, if you have a few phones at home they could still be worth a decent amount when added up.

“It’s very easy to convert your old clutter into cash, so there’s no point sitting on phones if you’re not using them, as the value only depreciates over time. All good recyclers now provide instructions on how to quickly backup and wipe data from old handsets, so you can be confident your phone is being sold on safely.”

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